


all at once you are the one I have been waiting for

by water_poet



Category: DC Extended Universe, Justice League - All Media Types
Genre: AMIRIGHT BOIS, Canon Compliant, Christmas Party, Cute, F/M, Falling In Love, First Kiss, Past Relationship(s), Post-Canon, Rare Pairings, Romantic Fluff, Self-Indulgent, Slow Dancing, Snow, in which the author continues the trend of inventing ships for no reason, probably OOC because I've never watched any DC movies cuz they're trash, queer culture is watching this garbage movie for these two, this is fluffy bullshit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-19
Updated: 2018-12-19
Packaged: 2019-09-22 21:51:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17067782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/water_poet/pseuds/water_poet
Summary: In which Barry's need to help and genuine hope for humanity remind Diana oh so much of someone she once loved.





	all at once you are the one I have been waiting for

**Author's Note:**

> K as far as ships go this one is rare AF but it's still cute and underrated even if in canon their relationship is more BFFs
> 
> Self indulgent as fuck tbh
> 
> For my pal E, who beta'd this without knowing it was a fanfic

Even now, Diana sees Steve in a lot of things.  
  
When she walks along the canal bridge during her commute to work, she sees him in the waves of the icy water, in the white foam and the pale sky.  
  
She sees him in the bus driver, who's missing three teeth but smiles just as if he had a full set when she boards the bus.  
  
She sees him in the exhibits, in the cracked bombshells and torn uniforms and the way she can sometimes catch a glimpse of her reflection in the glass display case and imagine herself next to him again.  
  
It's autumn when she starts to see him in Barry.  
  
He gets an interview in the city near the museum and she takes him for lunch afterwards to celebrate.  
  
"You really don't have to, it's not I big deal, I mean - "   
  
His protests are shaky through his blush and crooked half-smile, so she drags him along anyway and he's staring around the restaurant with eyes the size of dinner plates.  
  
"Don't get downtown much?" she asks, and he laughs, fiddling with his napkin.  
  
"Not exactly. I'm more of a burger and fries guy, I guess" he admits.  
  
He then eats far too much for his skinny body but he seems so excited and completely unaware of the waiter's inquisitive stares that she doesn't mind the bill in the slightest.  
  
They walk in Grand Central afterwards, and he insists on buying ice cream for both of them (somehow after all these years she still likes vanilla best) and they talk on a bench for hours like old friends.  
  
The way he looks out at the bay and talks about the life he'd like to have makes her smile like she hasn't in a century or so. He wants a dog, and a flat on the top floor, and a place nearby to go fishing.  
Diana frowns.  
  
"Fishing?"  
  
Barry flushes as he realizes his tangent and mutters something about the unimportance of the statement, but this is the happiest she's ever seen him so she puts a hand over his and smiles.  
  
"Tell me. Please" she says kindly.   
  
The please seems to surprise Barry, and he chuckles. "When I was a kid, my mom used to take me down to visit my grandpa's cabin in Pennsylvania. He lived by this big lake, you know? And I always liked going to fish there"  
  
He's such an animated silhouette as he talks, hands emphatically gesturing as he tells his story. When he finishes, he glances across at her with another half-smile, eyebrows raised, as if asking for approval.  
  
Diana is smiling, fascination and something like fondness dusting her features like the warm sunlight falling through the trees.  
  
Barry is surprised, and he tears his eyes away quickly, biting his lower lip and looking pointedly down at his hands.  
  
"W-what did you do as a kid?" he asks, not looking up.  
  
"Oh, everything! My mother and my sisters taught me all the ways of the soldiers of old. We learned how to hunt and swim and climb and fight. Even as a young girl, my mother said I had the heart of a warrior" Diana replies, her eyes glittering with excitement as she recalls her past.  
  
Barry knows she doesn't talk about it much, and part of him feels honored. This isn't Wonder Woman, or Princess Diana of Themyscira. This is just Diana, and he hopes he might get to know her just a little bit better.  
  
When he leaves to catch the bus back to his apartment, Diana watches him go and remembers the way Steve used to light up when he told her about his childhood in Iowa.  
  
The bus pulls away, and Diana stays to watch the sunset, thinking.

* * *

Barry gets the job and Bruce suggests the group go out for drinks to celebrate.  
  
Barry's never been one for drinking (ever since his transformation, he can't actually get drunk without almost killing himself) but he's also too sweet and too kind and too _good_ to say no so when he retreats to the corner of the bar at quarter to midnight Diana sits nearby and watches him, wineglass in hand.  
  
He's a curiosity sitting there, unbearably awkward, curled into himself, staring at his untouched beverage with a glazed over expression.   
  
Out of the corner of her eye, Diana spots a scene that's become all too familiar in her years among men. A young women, edging away from an inebriated man who'd never been taught respect.  
  
She instinctively reaches for her dagger, tucked away into her purse, but Barry catches her eye and there's the briefest flicker of light and the man at the bar is hunched over, clutching his stomach and cursing about someone having hit him.  
  
He's escorted out and Diana chances a glance back at Barry. He's watching over the rim of his drink, eyes creased into a mischievous smile that suits him far too well.  
  
She slides into the seat next to him.  
  
"Impressive" she says, and Barry, never aware of his value, shrugs.  
  
"Sure. Just decency, really" he mumbles, and Diana remembers when he risked his own life to save hers and didn't think twice about it.  
  
She wonders if it's because he values others' lives too much or his own too little.  
  
A bit of both, she decides.  
  
"Do you want to go home?" she asks softly.  
  
Barry's eye widen, before he lets out a weak laugh. "Is it that obvious?"  
  
She takes him back to his apartment in her car, and he seems endlessly fascinated with the lined interior, the immaculate paint job, and the abundant supply of available radio stations.  
  
He's such a curious soul, wide eyed and hopeful, and yet, broken in some strange way. He's always incomplete, in the same way that his smile never seems to full reach his eyes.   
  
If Steve was the sun, this man is the moon, pensive and waning and bright with a comforting softness.  
"Why'd you do it?" she finds herself asking.  
  
Barry glances toward her, lips pursed. "Do what?"  
  
"In the bar. The girl. You helped her" Diana replies.  
  
"Oh. That"  
  
Barry slumps in his seat, looking almost embarrassed. "It's just a thing I do. If I _can_ help people, I think it means I should"  
  
Diana shakes her head. "I mean, why didn't you just walk up? Why hide?"  
  
Barry's face goes a strange sort of shape, as if he's thinking about something almost unpleasant.  
  
"I just... I don't want to be a savior, or anything like that. People don't need any more saviors. Just look at how they treat Mr. Kent"  
  
He laughs bitterly to himself.  
  
"They just need that little thought in the back of their mind, like, things aren't so bad after all. Maybe there's something good worth sticking around for, you know?"  
  
He's not expecting an answer, but Diana nods, ignoring the way her chest is pulling itself apart with a familiar ache.  
  
"I know"  
  
The car stops in from of Barry's apartment, and for the first time, he looks her in the eye and smiles.  
  
He's handsome in all the ways Steve wasn't. His jaw is soft, his eyes are deep set, and his smirk is anything but dashing, but she sees so much of Steve in him.  
  
"Take care of yourself, Barry" she says.  
  
"You too, Diana" he replies, climbing out of the car and disappearing into the lobby of the apartment complex.  
  
It's not until she's halfway to her own flat that she realizes it's the first time he's called her by her real name.

* * *

They make a habit of each other.

She meets him on Tuesdays for lunch and he visits the museum every Friday to take her World War II tour.  
  
They talk for hours afterwards, and Diana's never been around someone like Barry for so long.  
  
He asks too many questions and yet not enough.   
  
He seems content but at the same time she can see the sadness in his eyes.  
  
He's a puzzle and a mystery and a journey, but first and foremost he is a man that Diana can't seem to tear herself away from.

* * *

"You can't tease the kid like that, Prince"  
  
Diana rolls her eyes, not looking up from the latest archeology report.  
   
"Since when are my relationships your business, Mr. Wayne?" she asks cooly.  
  
Bruce raises an eyebrow. "So you're in a relationship now?"  
  
Diana's grip on the page tightens.  
  
"I said nothing of the sort. You make too many assumptions"   
  
The billionaire sighs and walks over to one of the display cases, staring absently at the carved pots and hammered gold jewelry resting behind the thick glass.   
  
"I'm not sure I'm the only one, Diana" he says slowly, and Diana finally looks up.  
  
"It will never cease to amaze me how little respect humanity has for the privacy for others" she snaps, sliding the report back into its Manila folder.  
  
"And he's not a kid"  
  
Bruce throws her a sidelong glance that he's too used to giving.  
  
"Is that what you tell yourself?"  
  
The file cabinet drawer slams with a force that rattles the glass cases and Bruce turns, pretending not to be frightened.  
  
Diana isn't facing him, _won't_ face him, as she takes a breath and slowly straightens.  
  
"Are you here to discuss my personal life, or matters of actual importance?" she asks curtly.  
  
"I thought this might be an overlap" Bruce replies, heading towards the door to Diana's office. She doesn't watch him go, and doesn't turn when he looks over his shoulder and says, "Watch out for him, Diana"  
  
When she's certain Bruce is finally gone, she marches back to her desk and puts her head in her hands.

* * *

Something's changed.  
  
When Barry drops by her office with a coffee in each hand, something's changed.  
  
When they go for lunch and Barry insists on paying, something's changed.  
  
When snow starts to fall and her hand steals into his during their walk, everything and nothing has changed all at once.  
  
They're sitting in the World War II area of the museum, a little closer than they've ever been when Barry suddenly stands and stuffs his hand in his pockets.  
  
"What was he like?"   
  
He doesn't clarify, but he stares at the pilot's uniform, his expression blankly curious.  
  
Diana almost answers right away.  
  
"He was..."  
  
She wants to say 'Like you' but Barry isn't Steve and she doesn't want him to be Steve so instead she tells him how the pilot was like a storm and a sunrise and the roaring winds.  
  
He listens with an ache in his chest that doesn't quite reach his throat because even if he's no soldier he loves the way Diana's face glows when she talks about Steve and he can't help but smile.  
  
And yet, maybe there's some sadness in the corners of his lips because Diana looks out at the water and talks about the night sky and Barry can almost pretend she's talking about him.  
  
(She is.)

* * *

It's Christmas Eve when he realizes he loves her but he doesn't say anything because she's Diana of Themyscira and he's a kid from New York with sad eyes and a stupid crush.  
  
Bruce hosts a gala, and Diana can't remember the last time she danced with anyone but she shows up in red with Barry on her arm looking utterly lost and terrified and exhilarated all at once.  
  
At some point he drifts to the balcony and she follows.  
  
"Hey" he greets her, his voice quiet. There's a couple snowflakes in his hair like stars on a summer evening as his breaths curls into the sky like smoke.  
  
"Hello" she replies, and maybe she imagines it but for a moment he looks almost relieved. "Are you cold?"  
  
Barry shakes his head and the snow flutters from his hair and lashes.  
  
"I don't really get cold anymore. Not since...you know..."  
  
He's gesturing again, and Diana hums in agreement.   
  
Barry's looking out at the snow, at the lights and the streets and the dark sky. His lips are parted, as if he wants to speak, but the words won't quite come out.  
  
Diana glances back into the party and sees Bruce, tumblr in hand as he laughs, a pretty girl on each arm. Barry follows her gaze and shakes his head and she's not sure if she should tell him Bruce is a billionaire and a smooth talker but he's Barry Allen and she thinks she might love him but she can't and she doesn't but she does love the way he catches her eye and smiles and flushes all at once.  
  
"When was your first Christmas?" he asks.  
  
She gets that glassy look in her eye as decades of history run through her mind and she sighs.  
  
"After the war. I was back in the city, and it was so lonely. But the lights...when I was a girl, my mother would let me stay up late and watch the stars...the lights reminded me..."  
  
Her voice trails off and he smiles.  
  
"I grew up Jewish" he begins, and he sees a flicker of pain in her eyes, "but my best friend, Ed...his family invited me over for Christmas one year and I never looked back"  
  
He looks back out at the snow.  
  
"When I was a kid, it was about me. People like me. I was shy, you know, but now there's no one like me. I've got a duty. To all the people I used to be"  
  
Diana remembers being young again, running barefoot in the grass and laughter echoing across the mountains and then the night she promised herself she'd protect instead of destroy.  
  
They're all on the same side but Barry isn't Bruce or Clark. He wants to be them so badly but he's not and he won't ever be and that's what she loves about him.  
  
She can't tell him all that so she asks him to dance and somehow he's a natural, and it's only later that he admits to having taken ballet in his early years. But now, he holds her, and the music is as soft as his eyes and she's so fascinated by the way he's bold and shy and sad all at once.  
  
Other men stare at her but he only smiles, listens and laughs like he always does and she's never felt quite like this before, or maybe she has but now she's feeling again for the first time and it might as well be a whole new existence.  
  
The gala ends and they're sitting in the bar area of Bruce's kitchen when the time hits Christmas morning and his question catches her off guard.  
  
"Can I kiss you?"  
  
She stares up at him, and he retreats back into his shell, wilting before her eyes.  
  
"Wait, no...I'm sorry, it just...it just came out, pretend I didn't say anything, please" he stammers, and he's backing away, crossings his arms like a shield over his heart.  
  
He's afraid, and in some ways, so is she, because she thinks she's falling in love again but she knows she can't, she mustn't, but his eyes are bright and sad and perfect and she wonders how she's never noticed the way they catch the light like the night sky before.  
  
"Yes"  
  
The word falls from her lips, heavy and full of promises she can't keep but will anyway.  
  
Before he changes his mind, before the world they've fallen into fades away and they're left alone, he cups her face and kisses her, hard.  
  
His lips are dry but he tastes like the ocean breeze and she's pulling him closer, arms wrapped around his neck like she's afraid to let him go.  
  
It's everything, and nothing, all at once, even after they pull apart and she's breathing slowly, looking up at him.  
  
He's staring at her for a moment, pupils blown wide and lips hanging open. His breath comes out ragged, and he licks his lips.  
  
The next moment, he's kissing her again, and this time their mouths are open and he's a terrible flirt but a great kisser as she coaxes him into it, hands wandering across his button-up with fingers splayed and shaking.  
  
Her fingertips brush across his ribcage and he stifles a gasp even as their teeth knock together and they laugh like friends, like lovers, and he's pressed her up against the kitchen island with his shirt hanging open as she kisses his jaw, his throat, his collarbones.  
  
Everything is too fast and too slow all at once, so it's no surprise to either when her hands are in his hair and there's slacks and a blazer littered across the kitchen tile while Diana's heels still dangle from her feet.  
  
It's different, different as he looks her in the eyes and holds her and she doesn't even have time to worry about what Bruce is going to say (and anyway, it's not his business, no matter how much he tries to make it such) because Barry protects people, and he still reminds her of Steve, but he's Barry and she's starting to realize that's more than enough.

**Author's Note:**

> This exists solely because I have a massive crush on both of these actors
> 
> Sue me


End file.
